While senators’ duties are mainly as legislators within Parliament, their work also takes them far beyond. Learn more about some of their activities.

Wednesday, February 21 — Senator Rosa Galvez visits the University of Sherbrooke as part of her national lecture tour, on this occasion discussing the lessons learned from the Lac-Mégantic disaster.

Wednesday, February 21 — Senator Marilou McPhedran speaks with students at Sisler High School in her hometown of Winnipeg for a SENgage talk about her work at the Senate and how the institution works in practice.

Friday, February 23 — Senator Peter Harder tours Niagara College with Associate Dean Al Unwin as the school prepares to launch a commercial cannabis production program in the fall. The Cannabis Act, which proposes to legalize and regulate cannabis in Canada, is currently being debated in the Senate.

Monday, February 26 and Tuesday, February 27 —Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard speaks with students at two Ottawa schools — Ashbury College and Hillcrest High School — during Black History Month as a SENgage initiative. Senator Bernard talked about the importance of fellow Nova Scotian Viola Desmond to Canada’s history and her own path from attending a segregated school in the 1950s to becoming a Canadian senator.

Thursday, March 1 —Senator Marilou McPhedran hosts “Solidarity and the Shifting Patterns of Hegemony in Southern Africa: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives,” a talk to commemorate the official end of apartheid in South Africa. The event was co-hosted by Senator Mary Coyle, MP Gary Anandasangaree and Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies.

Thursday, March 1 — Senate Speaker George J. Furey meets with the Watoto Children’s Choir, a group of orphans from Uganda who are touring the globe to raise awareness about issues affecting Africa’s most vulnerable women and children.

Other events that senators participated in:

Thursday, February 15 -- Senator Elizabeth Marshall gave a SENgage guest lecture at Memorial University’s Gardiner Centre. Speaking to the students of the course How Government Works, Senator Marshall explained the role of the Senate in Parliament and how senators represent Canadians in Ottawa.